The 2015 Barbaresco Masseria shows nice, delicate fiber and a silkiness that marks this rendition as one of the most subtle and refined in recent memory. It's a much more elegant approach than 2010, for example, another hot July and August growing season that produced very different results, perhaps with more rigidity at the back. Serve this softer wine from 2015 with some blue cheese or Gorgonzola. The team at Vietti has gained access to more fruit in Barbaresco, including acquisitions in 2018 of 2.5 hectares in Roncaglie and 8,000 square meters of vines in Rabajà. Masseria is a fantasy name, but it technically is the informal name of part of the Cottà cru in Neive.

Vietti's 2015 Barbaresco Masseria is a dense, powerful wine that is going to need at least a few years to fully come together. In 2015, the Masseria is a decidedly potent, masculine Barbaresco, with huge tannins and tremendous fruit density. Time in bottle will help soften some of the edges, but I imagine the 2015 will always remain rather somber. Macerated dark cherry, scorched earth, new leather, tobacco and licorice add to an impression of virile intensity.